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College football kickoff: The mother of all Iron Bowls, Top 25 buzz, matchups and picks

Alabama Saban Presser Monday for Auburn

Alabama NCAA college football coach Nick Saban gestures as he speaks during a press conference Monday, Nov. 25, 2013 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. No college football team is more accustomed to rampant hype than No. 1 Alabama. Sure, the Iron Bowl against No. 4 Auburn is huge, but Nick Saban's team has faced 20 top 10 opponents over the past six years and beaten 16 of them. (AP Photo/AL.com, Vasha Hunt)

Here's a look at the big matchups and top storylines from around the nation as we near kickoff on another Saturday of college football:

The Big Buzz: The Mother of All Iron Bowls

No. 1 Alabama at No. 4 Auburn, 3:30 p.m. ET

In the interest of promotion, it has become routine these days for hyperbole to reign anytime a potentially historic matchup comes our way. For once, this afternoon at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, two teams will meet in a game that is deserving of every ounce of hype it receives.

The 2013 version of Auburn and Alabama's annual clash has been dubbed "The Mother of All Iron Bowls." Consider the following: Today's game is a winner-take-all for the SEC West title, which includes a direct ticket to the SEC championship. Three of the last four Iron Bowl winners have gone on to win the SEC title -- no small accomplishment on it's own -- and all four of the those winners went on to claim the BCS Championship.

Alabama has been that team three times, and they are on track to win their third straight national title and be the first team ever to win four of five. Quarterback AJ McCarron has piloted the last three Tide title teams and is suddenly right in the mix with Jameis Winston for the Heisman Trophy. In short, with what is at stake in Alabama, today's matchup is the biggest game in the history of the biggest rivalry in the sport.

Saban's not just beating Auburn. He's making good on a promise from the day he was introduced as the Alabama coach. He said then that Alabama "has a rival in this state we're going to work 365 days a year to dominate."

Mission accomplished more than once.

It's still early, but given the games he's won and the lopsided fashion in which he's won them, Saban already has to be considered among the greatest Iron Bowl coaches of all time.

"Forget about how many yards he's thrown for, how many touchdown passes and that. He's a team guy, he's always been a team guy, he's always done what we've asked him to do. He's always responded the right way because we brought him up the hard way."

Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall (14) pitches the ball during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Georgia in Auburn, Ala., Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013. Auburn beat Georgia 43-38. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

"If Auburn can impose their will and run the ball, I think that's the one thing that could discourage Alabama," says CBS Sports' Gary Danielson. "They don't like people putting yards on them running the ball. That's where their pride is. And if you run the ball and make first downs and grind out the game, that's how you beat them. If you look back at the stats of all the teams that have beaten Alabama - I've been using this for three years - it's not the fancy teams that beat them; it's the teams that run the ball that beat them."

Speaking of fancy teams, we've seen the BCS dreams of powerhouse spread offenses shatter in recent weeks. So why is it that Auburn's spread attack has yet to go the way of Oregon and Baylor? Well, for one, the Tigers' version of the spread involves a healthy dose of smashmouth football, whereas the new-age spread that relies on speed and timing has ran into all sorts of trouble against traditional power teams, as Auburn front man Gus Malzahn explains: (via USA Today)

"That's what we really harped on when we first got here. We felt like we needed to get our edge back - that physical, hard-nosed, blue-collar edge and really it starts up front. We're a run, play-action team. A lot of times you hear spread, you think pass to open up the run. But we run to open up the pass."

• Michigan's athletic director issued a statement in support of coach Brady Hoke after it became clear that the rumors surrounding his job security were impacting the football program: (via MLive.com)

"Brady Hoke is our coach and will be leading our football program into the future. There is no question about it. Brady has done a great job rebuilding the program and reshaping the culture to the level it was under coaches Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr."

"I think they're doing an amazing job right now. They open so many running lanes for us to run through and make so many plays in the backfield and cause so much distraction to the offense. It makes it easier for the linebackers when those guys make all that noise."

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier reacts after Elliott Fry scored the go-ahead field goal during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Florida on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013, at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina won 19-14. (AP Photo/ Richard Shiro)

"Coach Spurrier is only mean to me when he ain't around me. He's just a competitive guy. I'm a competitive guy. He's got bragging rights. They kicked our tail the last several years. That's just the way it is. I don't take it personal. He doesn't discriminate. He likes to say things from time to time. It's just him having fun."

• Last season's controversial loss to Notre Dame may have stung, but it also propelled an angry Stanford team to eight straight wins and a Rose Bowl victory. However, Cardinal head coach David Shaw says this is a new year: (via ESPN.com)

"A football season has highs and lows and the good teams bounce back because you can't have a season of all highs. When things don't go your way you regroup and you retool and you go back after it again. That's what we did last year after the Notre Dame game. That's what we did this year after the USC game. This is going to be a great game that's not going to hinge at all on what happened last year."